indecent

[in-dee-suhnt]

adjective

1. offending against generally accepted standards of propriety or good taste; improper; vulgar.

   indecent jokes; indecent language; indecent behavior.

   Synonyms: licentious, lewd, filthy, obscene, gross, rude, outrageous, coarse, indelicate, indecorous, immodest, distasteful

2. not decent; unbecoming or unseemly.

   indecent haste.

   Synonyms: inappropriate
   Antonyms: becoming, appropriate

indecent

/ ɪnˈdiːsənt /

adjective

1. offensive to standards of decency, esp in sexual matters

2. unseemly or improper (esp in the phrase indecent haste )

Other Word Forms

• indecently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of indecent¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin indecent- (stem of indecēns ) “unseemly.” See in- ³, decent

Synonym Study

See improper.

Example Sentences

McCartney was first arrested in 2016, when he was 17, after indecent images of children were found on his mobile phone, a tablet and five computers.

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Three of the accounts of indecent assault are alleged to have taken place in BBC studios in the 1990s.

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He was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March of that year.

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The Algerian national was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March of that year.

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Court records reveal that the 24-year-old has been accused of 11 offences since September 2023 - his conviction and sentence for an indecent exposure, committed in March 2024, being one of them.

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Related Words

• filthy 
• immoral 
• improper 
• lewd 
• obscene 
• off-color 
• outrageous 
• ridiculous 
• salacious 
• shocking 
• tasteless 
• unbecoming 
• unseemly 
• vile